The present invention relates to a system and method for reminding users of forgotten portable electronic devices.
In recent years, use of portable electronic devices, such as, for example, cellular telephones, personal data assistants (PDAs), personal computers, pagers, and the like, have increased greatly. People rely on these devices at work, home, and when traveling. As a result, when a user forgets a portable electronic device, it often creates a problem and in many instances must backtrack to retrieve the forgotten device. Currently there is no way for a person to insure that he or she has not forgotten any of his or her essential devices when leaving a location other than by going over a checklist.
Thus, there exists a desire and need for a system and method for checking if a person has all of their portable electronic devices with them when leaving a location such as, for example, home, work, car, a hotel, etc. There is also a need for a system and method to ensure that a person does not have unneeded devices when leaving a location. In another aspect, the invention is a method and system which ensures that a person does not leave a location with unneeded or unnecessary personal electronic devices.
The present invention mitigates the problems associated with the prior art and provides, in one aspect, a unique method and system for providing an automatic reminder thereby insuring that a person does not forget any personal electronic devices when leaving a location.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, portable electronic devices such as, for example, cellular telephones, PDAs, laptops, pagers, MP3 players, watches, etc. are provided with transceivers. When the user performs a predefined action, such as, for example, starts his car, opens the front door of his house, or opens a garage door, etc. a controller at the location checks which devices should be present with the user at that time. A transceiver at the location communicates with each of the specified portable electronic devices which should be present using low power radio signals to verify that each portable electronic device is within a pre-determined short range of the location, e.g. is with the user or in the car. The location controller notifies the user of any of the specified portable electronic devices which are not within the pre-determined short range of the controller.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, portable electronic devices are provided with transceivers. At a specified time, a controller in the user""s watch, beeper, or cellular telephone communicates via a transceiver with each of the specified portable electronic devices using low power radio signals to verify that each portable electronic device is within a pre-determined short range, e.g. is with the user or in the immediate vicinity. The controller within the watch, beeper, or cellular telephone then notifies the user if any of the specified portable electronic devices are not within a pre-determined short range.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, portable electronic devices are provided with transceivers. When a user performs a specified action, a controller at his location checks to maker sure that no unneeded or unnecessary devices are present e.g. within a predetermined distance of the controller. So that a user is not burdened with unnecessary unneeded devices.